During the second half of the 20th century, we experienced many positive changes in our society in the United States, including greater respect for minorities and the expansion of opportunities for women, along with advances in technology, communications, and medical care.

However, the past 60 years have also brought about some negative changes, too. It seems with progress we also find abuses that have led to a decline in moral and religious values which had been the foundation of society for preceding centuries.

Moral decline in society

Jerry Schmutte pointed out some of the negative changes in a talk at the Crisis Pregnancy Outreach and Sidewalk Counselor Training Conference held at the Bishop O’Connor Center in Madison on February 25. Schmutte noted that in the past 60 years:

• The divorce rate has grown from 10 to 50 percent.

• Spousal and child abuse have skyrocketed.

• The rate of birth of illegitimate children has increased from five to 40 percent.

• Incurable sexually transmitted diseases have gone from a rarity to a plague, affecting one in four American adults.

• Abortion is the most common surgery performed in the United States.

Schmutte believes that no organization has played a bigger role in our culture’s decline than the Planned Parenthood Federation. Founded by Margaret Sanger in 1916 as the American Birth Control League, it was considered a “fringe group” until the 1960s when it began to gain more acceptance. Part of the movement’s success was its use of language, including changing its name to Planned Parenthood.

Principles of Planned Parenthood

It was founded on three philosophical pillars: unrestricted sexual freedom, the “sacredness” of birth control, and eugenics (improving the genetic composition of a population). These principles led to such things as sanctioning of sexual activity before marriage, promiscuity during marriage, removing parental rights, sexual abuse of children, and protecting sexual predators, according to Schmutte.

What is frightening today is that some people have begun to accept these kinds of behavior as the norm. Children who are sexually abused are coming to Planned Parenthood clinics for an abortion and their abusers are not brought to justice. Parents are not notified when their minor children become pregnant and seek an abortion. There is no oversight of abortion clinics.

The eugenics issue is also scary. Margaret Sanger was quoted as saying she wanted to “weed out” the “unfit.” It reminds me of what I read about Nazi Germany on a visit to the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. The Nazis called for sterilization of Jews, Blacks, and the disabled, and of course many were killed.

Today we see the legacy of Planned Parenthood in the location of many of its clinics in poor areas of cities of the United States. African-Americans account for 12 percent of the population in our country but have 36 percent of surgical abortions. Planned Parenthood’s influence extends to the government, courts, and schools, Schmutte pointed out.

Hope for the future

He did have some hope for the future, but only if concerned people work together to overcome the legacy of Planned Parenthood.
He suggests that Christians unite in “spiritual warfare” with other Christians. Parents need to be more involved in their children’s lives and intervene in schools where needed. He also advised that people seek pastoral support via church outreach programs.

Above all, it seems that we should educate ourselves on what’s happening in our society, speak out to defend moral values, and lead by example in our own lives. Hopefully our society will turn around our culture’s moral decline and build a stronger foundation for the future.